


The Seedy Underbelly of the Upside Down

by memorysdaughter



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Critical Role (Web Series) RPF
Genre: Dogs, Gen, Teleportation, improbable scenarios
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 09:57:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10435185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorysdaughter/pseuds/memorysdaughter
Summary: Post Liam's first one-shot, our favorite group of voice actors finds themselves adrift in a constantly-shifting world of bizarre threats, confusing puzzles, and endless uncertainties.  While the hope of returning to their "real" world grows ever more dim, they must band together to fight off enemies both new and familiar and stop a coming apocalyptic scenario.(Sponsored by Loot Crate!)





	

**Author's Note:**

> I always come back to Liam's first one-shot. I've probably watched it more than a hundred times at this point. I've been sitting on this for awhile now, and I'm finally ready to share whatever this turns out to be with all of you.
> 
> This is my first time writing RPF and I felt super-embarrassed doing it, but I really wanted more of what happened after the episode ended.
> 
> A little lighter than my regular fare, so... there's that.
> 
> Come yell at me on Tumblr - I'm memorysdaughter.

The world shook beneath their feet, and it was as though the very foundations of the heavens and the earth were destroyed and rebuilt.  Thunder roiled overhead; the apocalyptic landscape swirled away, up into the churning sky.  Everything around them transformed, colors swirling, the air filled with the scents of earth and clean rain and something faraway and floral.  Sam grabbed for Bixby.  Travis put his arm around Laura, covering her with his body.  Taliesin tumbled to the ground.

When everything was still, they looked up.  They stood in a perfectly normal street, perfectly normal buildings surrounding them; everything close by was familiar.  Cars were parked along the curbs and in a nearby parking lot.  Power lines were still suspended between poles, gently curving overhead like ropy black smiles.  The trees and grass grew in perfectly normal configurations, the ground hospitable rather than sun-baked and empty.  It was as if the horrifying, inexplicable events of the preceding hours had not occurred at all.

Taliesin was the first to notice where they were and what was near them. “That’s my car!”

He bolted towards it, grabbing in his bag for his car keys.

Sam put Bixby back on the ground. “We’re outside the studio,” he observed.

“This feels like a trap,” Travis said.

Laura looked up at the Geek and Sundry complex. “Why would we end up here?” she wanted to know. “We were at Warner Brothers when this all started.”

“We did a lot of time shifting,” Sam pointed out. “Maybe…”

He shrugged. “Maybe it’s Thursday.”

They cautiously approached Taliesin, who was digging through the trunk of his car. “I’ve got a kit for this,” he said. “There’s more arrows in here.  Some flares, some granola bars, a flashlight…”

“I’m a little disappointed you don’t have some more weird shit,” Travis said.

“I’ve got liquor in tiny alchemists’ bottles.”

“That’s more like it.”

They took a few minutes gathering supplies from Taliesin’s car before moving into the parking lot, doing the same at the cars belonging to Laura, Sam, and Travis.  Thusly fortified, they began to approach the building.

“Wait,” Sam said. “What if it’s a trap?”

“Why would it be a trap?” Laura asked.

“Because everything else in this universe has either been a trap or has led us to some really bad stuff?”

“Point taken.  But what if Matt and Marisha are in there?  Someone else who could help us?”

“Maybe this is just a really bad acid trip, and they can call some paramedics,” Taliesin added.

Travis looked down at the maniac sword in his hand. “I feel like it wasn’t a bad trip.”

“Me neither, but we’ll never know one way or the other unless we explore all of the possibilities here.”

The interior of the studio was dark and cool, though there were lights on in rooms beyond the entryway.  Travis moved immediately to the closest telephone and picked up the receiver.

“Anything?” Sam asked.

Travis shook his head. “No dial tone.”

Laura took a few steps towards the rest of the offices and the rooms beyond. “Hello?”

“Sssh!” Taliesin cautioned her. “We don’t know if anyone’s here.”

Laura moved further into the studio; Bixby trotted after her through the room.

“Guess we have to follow him,” Sam said.

“I think your dog has a nose for trouble,” Travis said.

“Is that a dog pun?  Really, Travis?  Puns at a time like this?  I’m embarrassed,” Sam said.

“Because you didn’t think of it first?”

“Because I didn’t think of it first.”

“Guys, get in here!” Laura hollered from the other room.

They found her in the Talks Machina set.  Their good friend, Brian Wayne Foster, lay crumpled in a heap near the feet of Trinket the Bear.  Laura knelt before him. “Brian?  Brian?”

“What’s wrong with him?” Travis asked.

“I don’t know!”

Taliesin dug into his pockets. “Here, give him some Advil.”

“He doesn’t have a headache - he’s unconscious!”

“Let’s get him up and a little more comfortable,” Travis suggested. “Taliesin, help me put him on the couch.”

They scooped Brian off the floor and were in the process of carrying him over to the couch when Brian jerked upright.  He kicked out at Taliesin, catching him squarely in the chest.  Taliesin stumbled backwards.  With that Brian turned on Travis and, with lightning fast speed no one saw coming, delivered a knife-hand chop to Travis’s neck.

“Brian!  Stop!  It’s us!” Laura cried.

Brian whirled to face Laura, Sam, and Bixby.  His eyes glowed with a terrifying red light.

“Oh, shit,” Laura muttered.

“Bixby - attack!” Sam ordered.

The pug dutifully trotted forward, circling Brian’s legs.

“Get him!” Sam commanded.

Bixby barked, snorted, and commenced sniffing at Brian’s shoes.

Undeterred by the fierceness of the “attack,” Brian took a menacing step towards Laura and Sam. “You won’t be able to stop what’s coming,” he intoned. “Our army will find you wherever you try to hide - no matter what time or dimension, we’ll hunt you down.”

His attention seemed to be caught by something over their shoulders.  Sam turned his head slightly, just enough to see a flash of movement out in the hallway.  It was too fast for him to process what he’d seen, but it had been moving quickly.

Bixby, apparently having decided to pay attention to Sam’s commands, chose that moment to sink his teeth into Brian’s calf.  Brian jerked away from the bite, crumpling downwards to assess the damage.

“Come on!” Laura yelled at Travis, Taliesin, and Sam.

Sam scooped Bixby up off the floor and they hightailed it out of the studio.  At one end of the building was a mostly-unused conference room with a door that led out into the parking lot.  As they sprinted through it, Travis locked the door behind them and shoved a desk in front of it.

“Ashley’s going to have some serious questions about how her boyfriend got turned into an evil robot,” Taliesin said.

“I’ve got questions already,” Travis said. “Like, when did Brian get so strong?”

“And so wily?”

“Let’s be real, Laura - he’s always been wily.” Travis brought his hand up to the place where Brian’s knife-hand had impacted his neck. “I guess those self-defense lessons he was taking just paid for themselves.”

“Shit, guys, what’s our plan?” Sam let Bixby sniff around the room.

“Well, Brian mentioned something about an army,” Taliesin said. “Which is not reassuring, considering he managed to take out two of us with a super-effective ‘playing dead’ maneuver.”

“We’ve got almost nothing in the way of supplies,” Laura put in. “Minus all that stuff we found in the cars.”

“Y’know, we never tried to _start_ the cars,” Sam pointed out.

“We should raid Brian’s car!” Travis suggested. “He’s probably got lots of good stuff in there!”

“Did you grab his keys?” Laura asked.

“I assumed we’d just smash his windows.”

From the other side of the barricaded door came a _thump_.   _Thump-thump_.  The computer on the desk blocking the door shimmied and swayed a little.

“Seriously, what’s the plan?” Laura looked nervously towards the door.

“Every time we go outside we’re somewhere new,” Taliesin said. “Why not just take a chance?”

_Thump_.

The computer wobbled again and the monitor fell over.  As it hit the desktop, the Skype noise echoed up into the room.

Confusedly, Travis took a hesitant step towards the desk.

The Skype noise repeated itself.

Travis reached out and tipped the monitor up.

“What is it?” Laura whispered.

“It says it’s a call from… from Ashley,” Travis answered. “But that can’t be right.”

“Click it on it,” Sam suggested. “I mean, what do we have to lose?”

“I guess that’s true,” Travis said.  He moved the mouse over to the pop-up window and clicked to accept the call.

Ashley’s face appeared on the screen, worried. “You guys?  Can you hear me?”

“Ashley!  What’s happening?  Where are you?” Laura asked.

“I’m still in New York,” Ashley said, “but I keep getting these weird text messages from Brian.”

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Travis said.

Laura rolled her eyes. “Brian attacked us.”

“What?!  He’d never do something like that!”

“That’s what we thought,” Sam said.

“Question - the last time you saw him, did he have red eyes?” Taliesin asked.

“What?”

“Something’s happened to Brian,” Laura said, a little more gently.

“Quick question - what season of ‘Blindspot’ are you on?” Sam leaned towards the monitor.

“Season two?” Ashley replied confusedly.

“Weird,” Taliesin murmured.

“Is Brian going to be okay?” Ashley asked.

“We don’t know what’s going on,” Laura said.

“Things are a little bit upside down at the moment,” Travis added.

Ashley put her head in her hands. “I wish I was there with you guys.”

The computer screen seemed to shimmer a little as she spoke. “I mean, are you guys okay?  Where’s Liam?  Have you seen Matt and Marisha?”

“We haven’t seen Matt and Marisha for a bit,” Sam said truthfully as they all exchanged glances, seemingly choosing to move beyond a discussion of Liam’s… situation.

“I wish I could be there to help,” Ashley repeated.  The computer screen went blurry for a brief second.

“Ash?” Laura moved in closer.

“I said” - the computer itself seemed to fizzle in and out of space - “not very” - and wobble on the desk until the entire assembly was vibrating and rattling - “the best.”

Suddenly there was a bright flash of blue and gold light and a loud _whoomph_.  Everyone in the conference room ducked.  Though they kept their heads down to avoid the blinding flare, they were still able to hear two more noises - a _thump_ followed by what sounded like a smaller _thump_ impacting against the floor.

Then Ashley’s voice again: “Guys?”

It sounded much closer.  Laura opened her eyes to see Ashley getting up from a crouched position on the floor.  A mostly-full backpack lay on its side next to her.  Laura flew across the room and threw her arms around Ashley.

“I’m here now.  Will someone _please_ tell me what’s going on?” Ashley asked, her voice muffled by Laura’s shoulder.

There was a short _bark_ and a quieter _thump_ and those gathered in the room peeked behind Ashley and Laura’s embrace to see Sully the dog land somewhat gracefully next to Ashley’s backpack.

“Well, this just keeps getting weirder,” Taliesin remarked.

 

* * *

 

It took them a few minutes, but eventually the group explained to Ashley what had happened since they showed up at the WB Studios to record voice-overs for the latest game in the Felgard series.

“They’re still making those?” Ashley asked.

“There’s just… something about them,” Sam said lamely.

She looked from face to face, trying to determine whether or not her friends were playing an elaborate practical joke on her.  Eventually she nodded. “I can’t explain how I got here,” she said, “so I guess… I guess I’m part of all of this now too.”

“There’s one more thing we need to tell you,” Travis said. “When we got here, we found Brian.”

“Where is he?  Is he okay?”

From the other side of the door came a loud _thump_.

“Well, that depends on your definition of ‘okay,’” Taliesin said.

“Brian’s been… possessed,” Travis said.

“He totally took out Travis with a knife chop to the neck,” Sam added.

“He didn’t ‘take me out,’” Travis protested, using air quotes. “He just… stunned me.”

“Baby,” Laura said, patting his shoulder gently. “We all saw it.”

Ashley sighed and scooped Sully up from the floor.  He snuggled into her arms. “I guess we can’t fix any of that now.  Does anyone have any great ideas on what to do next?”

No one responded.  Then Sam spoke up. “Pretty much every time we’ve gone out a door in this crazy mindfuck series of universes, we’ve ended up somewhere else, doing something else, and somehow it’s all turned out all right.  I don’t mean to point out the obvious, but…”

He indicated the door leading out to the parking lot. “There’s a door.”


End file.
